Saturday, July 31, 2010

The Philippine government has sent an assessment mission to Iraq to oversee and examine the security situation and security measures for the thousands of overseas Filipino workers who were ordered to be expelled by the United States due to an existing labor deployment ban by Manila.

Presidential special envoy to the Middle East Roy Cimatu, who left for Iraq Thursday, will return to Manila next week to submit his report and recommendations to an inter-agency committee that closely monitors the work condition of Filipino workers and studying options to address their situation and concerns in Iraq.

“The inter-agency committee, composed of the Office of the Executive Secretary, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Labor and Employment, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, among other agencies, is expected to issue policy guidelines shortly after Ambassador Cimatu’s return,” a DFA statement said.

According to the DFA, there are around 6,000 Filipinos working in Iraq despite the Philippine government’s travel and labor deployment ban to Iraq. But the Embassy of Iraq in Manila said the figure has swelled to 15,000, most of them working for foreign companies in Iraq’s northern region.... MORE